South West Healthcare has opened a dedicated public Menopause Clinic at Warrnambool Base Hospital, giving women across the southwest free access to specialist menopause care close to home. The clinic begins accepting GP referrals today.
Funded through the Victorian Government’s Women’s Health Clinics program, the clinic brings a multidisciplinary team together under one roof. The team includes Gynaecologist and Clinical Director Dr Rosy Buchanan, and Midwife and Nurse Specialist Sarah Pohlner, supported by a physiotherapist, a social worker, and South West Healthcare’s dietitians and continence nurse.
Appointments are free.
The South West Healthcare Public Menopause Clinic will offer women:
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Consultation to understand menopause and peri-menopause
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Menopause Hormone Therapy (MHT) advice and alternative options, prescription and management
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Referrals into other services and allied health clinics to assist with the symptoms of peri-menopause/ menopause including mental health, sexual health, pelvic pain
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Provide referrals to assist with sleep, diet and overall health.
The Menopause Clinic is the latest clinic designed to support the health and wellbeing of women at South West Healthcare, alongside:
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Pelvic Pain Physiotherapist (also open to trans patients)
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The Sexual and Reproductive Health Hub (also open to all genders)
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Public Fertility Care in Partnership with The Women’s Hospital
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The Birth Reflections Clinic, providing support and closure to families (including fathers) who experienced traumatic or an unexpected birth
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Antenatal wellbeing appointments with a Social Worker or Perinatal Psychiatrist.
Menopause can affect a woman’s physical, mental and emotional health. Every woman will experience menopause differently.
According to research by Jean Hailes, around 1 in 4 women will have no menopausal symptoms. Around 1 in 4 will have severe menopausal symptoms, which interrupt daily activities and quality of life. The rest (2 in 4 women), will have menopausal symptoms that range from mild and annoying through to symptoms that are difficult to manage.
“Menopause and perimenopause can have a profound impact on a woman’s life from increasing the likelihood of chronic disease and osteoporosis, to having significant mental health impacts, impacts on heart health, sleep disturbances leading to exhaustion, impacts on libido and fat storage and weight gain just to name a few. For many women menopause can be managed with their GP, but for those who need specialist care, or for those who do not have access to a GP who is trained to manage menopause, our clinic is here to assist,” says Dr Rosy Buchanan.
“In their most extreme case – symptoms related to menopause can really limit a woman’s quality of life, there are statistics that show that some women are unable to continue with employment for example, the effects can be wide-ranging. It’s simply not acceptable that women should have to just put up with menopause as a ‘part of life’, and the first step toward rectifying this is making sure we have specialist care options to help them.”
“We are proud to be able to offer a service that provides dedicated menopause care to women in our region, ” says South West Healthcare CEO Craig Fraser. “Thanks to funding from the Victorian Government’s Women’s Clinics, we have been able to recruit some amazing staff to this team, to ensure women in the South West have equal access to specialist menopause care, compared to those in metro areas.”
The clinic will be located on level 4 at the Women’s Health Service at Warrnambool Base Hospital and will begin taking referrals from 3 August 2026.
For any women who are unable to see a GP to obtain a referral or who do not have a regular GP, they are encouraged to use the free Women’s Health Virtual Clinic – a Victorian Government initiative which provides free and timely access to healthcare for all Victorian Women.
The virtual clinic is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. You can book a free appointment online or over the phone:
• online bookings via Each
• phone 1300 003 224.